Need some tech savey advice about the PING))))

deno

I will try and keep this short...I am building a motorized device using 3 PING))) units to follow me with my golf clubs on board.· Simple operation, look for me within a certain distance out front, and look to the left and right to see if I turned.· I have the devices (3 of them) wired and running into a BS2, which is fast enought to do the job.

Everything works well, except, the PING))) devices seem not to detect me (my body) very well.· The distances here are within 7 feet down to 2 feet.· However, standing in front of a PING))) at 3 to 4 feet, it will only see me about 50 percent of time. A piece of cardboard 1.5 feet square works very well at the 7 foot range down to the 2 foot mark, but I can't wear a piece of cardboard on my back while I play golf.

Question, has anyone been able to "soup up" the PING))) device to make it more sensitive, either by more transmit power, or receive power.· (just guessing here, probably not).· But it doesn't hurt to ask.· If this is not possible, could someone steer me to a more powerful PING))) device, that a Basic Stamp would run.··The golf cart, motors, and drivers come later.

Deno

william chan

If the output from PING))) is 50% erratic like you mentioned, try averaging 6 samples over 1 second and then take the average result.
That should improve your rover reliability without messy hardware changes.

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deno

Well, I did think of that, but sometimes I can stand 4 feet away, and the PING)) doesn't see me.· I would hate to get run over by my golf cart in the middle of the fairway.·The detection response from one of the 3 PING))) devices needs to be instantious to be able to make course corrections thru the drive motors.· I have Googled around, and there are sensors out there that are more powerful, however, more money too...$300 TO $500.· Golf is not that important to me....

Deno

MSDTech

You might want to consider something like the Sharp GP2D12 as a backup to the Ping sensors. This is an infrared sensor for measuring distance. It has a range of 10 - 80 cm and could be used as a secondary check. Just remember to wear clothing that is reflective of infrared.

Dgswaner

IMHO. unless your golfing indoor IR isn't going to work well enough to be consistent [noparse]:)[/noparse], I think you have the wrong tool for the job personally. what's stopping this from thinking a tree is you or what if a person walks by and it starts to follow them. If you used IR I would do something like the beacon based navigation, except your the beacon. a PING could be used in conjunction so it stayed a set distance from the beacon (you).

what about you carrying a GPS, when you move you new coordinates get xmitted and it know where to move with a built in offset from your location, I think accuracy would be greater than the above mentioned methods.

I think the best solution would be roborealm. it can easily track a person indoor and out, and even calculate distance. the down side is you would need to always golf in a red shirt, or do recognition training at start up so it knew what (who) to track.

not trying to sound negative, just offering my opinion.

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"A complex design is the sign of an inferior designer." - Jamie Hyneman, Myth Buster

DGSwaner

deno

Well, I answered my own question...I found a company in Michigan called· SensComp, Inc. that makes more powerful tranducers, that can be interfaced with the Basic Stamp.· They have several different types.

Thanks for all the responses..

Deno